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Do you think beauty pageants for kids should be banned?

How many times have you heard of something that's happened on Toddlers & Tiaras
and wondered why on earth parents are allowed to let their children do
that. From sexualizing them in skimpy costumes to pumping them full of
sugary, caffeinated drinks so they're ready to compete with their
flippers and fake tans, we've seen acts that should be criminal. And now
they very well may be ... at least France where they are they moving to ban child beauty pageants.

According to CNN, the French Senate voted to ban beauty pageants for
anyone under 16. Organizers could be thrown in jail for up to two years
and face step fines. The bill still has to pass a few more hurdles, but
if signed into law, it will be tres magnifique.

There
is, of course the argument of personal freedom, and it's definitely a
slippery slope to think of the government interfering with parents'
rights to decide what's best for their children. But most importantly,
there are the children. While there are different types of contests, in
many we've seen children clearly being exploited.

Lawmakers are not moralizers, but we have a duty to defend the superior interest of the child.

It is extremely destructive for a girl between the age of 6 and 12 to
hear her mother say that what’s important for her is to be beautiful.
We are fighting to say: What counts is what they have in their brains.

People will argue that pageants instill confidence, test talents, and
possess all sorts of virtues, but there are plenty of other means for
those things that aren't focused primarily on their looks. Contests that
involve a swimsuit competition for children should not exist. They just
should not.

I can't see a law like this ever getting passed in the United States,
but I do love that the French are addressing this issue and bringing
awareness to it. I think most parents have no idea just how damaging
these contests can be to their darling daughters. They're blinded by the glitz and pursuit of the crown,
and don't see what's happening in the process. Maybe the French will
open some more eyes to it, and parents won't need a ban to prevent them
from entering their daughters.

No, I think it is a personal choice and the parents need to make that decision.

by Anonymous 2
on Sep. 20, 2013 at 9:30 AM

No I don't think they should. The only way I could see it as damaging to the child is if the child is forced to do it. If the child wants to do it for fun then I see no problem.

by Anonymous 3
on Sep. 20, 2013 at 9:32 AM

yes.

by Anonymous 4
on Sep. 20, 2013 at 9:35 AM

2 moms liked this

Both of my girls have done natural pageants and enjoyed them. When they lost interest we quit doing them. I would never allow them to do a glitz pageant though. It's a whole different world of pageantry and I find a lot of the "glitz" practices to be rather disgusting and objectifying. But to each their own I guess.

by Anonymous 5
on Sep. 20, 2013 at 9:35 AM

5 moms liked this

I think it's a great idea! That show Toddlers and Tiaras is basically just a porno for pedophiles and I seriously question the intelligence of the mothers who subject their children to such things!

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